University of Technology Sydney

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Electrolyte and interface engineering of solid-state sodium batteries. This project aims to develop large-scale solid-state sodium-ion batteries exhibiting better safety compared to classic liquid electrolyte batteries without compromising on performance, thus addressing the significant issue of safety in batteries. This will be achieved by novel engineering of solid-state electrolytes and electrolyte-electrode interfacing by a fundamental understanding of sodium-ion transport using statistical and machine-learning techniques. Expected outcomes include an understanding of ion-transport mechanisms in batteries, delivery of advanced solid-state electrolytes with high ionic conductivity, and batteries with excellent performance and safety characteristics, which benefits Australia's environment and sustainability. Field of research: 4016 - Materials Engineering This project aims to develop large-scale, cost-effective, high safety, and high-performance solid-state sodium-ion batteries by electrolytes and interface engineering. Expected outcomes include constructing solid-state electrolytes with high ionic conductivity, designing intimate electrolyte/electrode interfaces, and obtaining safer batteries. This will address safety issues faced by batteries based on organic electrolytes which are volatile and flammable, causing issues like burning or explosion. Solid-state sodium-ion batteries have the advantages of intrinsically high safety, good thermal stability, and low cost, especially for large-scale energy storage systems. The outcomes of this project will accelerate Australian energy storage markets to realize the full value and benefits. Besides, this project will have fundamental significance in material science, physical chemistry, nanotechnology, electrochemistry, as well as strengthen national research capacity in energy materials. This project will make Australia the world’s batteries leader in terms of battery production and put Australia at the forefront of the utilization of renewable and clean energies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Indistinguishable Quantum Emitters in van der Waals Materials. Solid state sources of single photons ("quantum emitters") are a key building block for implementation of scalable quantum technologies. Amongst many potential platforms studied, impurities in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are at the forefront due to their brightness and ease of manufacturing. However, their main disadvantage is spectral instability which prohibits engineering of practical devices. The current project will address this bottleneck and deliver an optically stable solid state quantum light source in hBN. The project will produce a robust hardware toolkit for quantum technologies. It will provide excellent training for young Australians and generate key intellectual property for quantum startups and the quantum industry. Field of research: 4018 - Nanotechnology The global quantum industry has been estimated conservatively to reach $86 billion by 2040 in the CSIRO report "Growing Australia’s Quantum Technology Industry". The report estimates that Australia can realise a global revenue of at least $4 billion and create over 16,000 jobs in this sector. It emphasizes the need to attract, train and retain talent, and address gaps in industry capabilities. This project addresses a technological bottleneck in advanced manufacturing of single photon sources - hardware for quantum communications, quantum sensing and quantum computation. The objective is to improve the performance metrics of these sources to the level needed for real-world applications in alignment with the CSIRO report recommendations. In addition, the project will create content for quantum and technology degrees to train students and young researchers. The outcomes of the project will benefit Australian labour market by building high-tech workforce for the quantum industry for positioning Australia in the lead of the emerging quantum economy. The general public will learn about the advances of the project through the Sydney Quantum Academy, the Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems and major press and social media channels.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

PFAS transport through landfill clay liners enhanced with proteins. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of environmentally persistent, man-made chemicals found likely to be carcinogenic in humans. Due to their non-stick, water and stain repellences, PFAS have long been used in everyday products (food wrappers, carpets, furniture etc.) which end up in landfills. As it is currently unknown how PFAS move through the various components of landfill barriers, their fate and transport has become a priority for the regulators of Australia’s landfill sites according to the Australian 2018 PFAS National Environmental Management Plan. This research will determine PFAS transport through common clay barriers enhanced with proteins which have been shown to be an excellent sorbent for PFAS. Field of research: 4011 - Environmental Engineering Protecting Australia’s soil and water resources from per- & polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is paramount. Household products containing PFAS disposed to landfills will continue to threaten soil and water sources long into the future due to their recalcitrance and toxicity. PFAS transport in soils, let alone landfill liners, is poorly understood and addressing this knowledge gap is a scientific priority. The 2021 American ban on the thermal treatment of PFAS leaves landfilling the only option, highlighting the importance of understanding these systems. This research will elucidate the fundamental parameters & mechanisms governing PFAS transport through landfill liners, thereby addressing the current knowledge gaps. By working with state EPA heads and stakeholders, the outcomes of this research will demonstrate how to best construct landfills for optimal environmental protection from these forever chemicals. These results can then be incorporated into the PFAS National Environmental Protection Measure (NEMP), the framework for the environmental regulation of PFAS-contaminated materials.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Next-generation system resilience-based design of infrastructure facilities. This project aims to develop a framework for system resilience-based design of infrastructure facilities. In Australia, the costs of natural disasters will rise to $33B per year by 2050 unless steps are taken to guarantee resilience. This project expects to quantify the impacts that structural deterioration, external hazards, and component interaction have on infrastructure resilience. Expected outcomes include new practices for resilience-based structural design, reflecting a next-generation evolution of design philosophy. Expected benefits stem from the development of novel decision-making tools for community planners and designers that will guarantee the resilience of infrastructure systems, and thus mitigate hazard-induced damage costs. Field of research: 4005 - Civil Engineering Australian infrastructure systems (e.g. transportation and power grids) have suffered significant economic losses and service disruptions due to more frequent natural hazards. To better protect infrastructure, community planners need more sophisticated quantitative tools that enhance resilience, improving the ability to resist, absorb, adjust to, and recover from disruptive events. Infrastructure also needs to become more robust to withstand the effects of a harsher, volatile climate. However, current Australian design standards and codes do not adequately address the need for infrastructure-resilience. This project will develop a novel, resilience-orientated method to guide the design of future infrastructure. Outcomes from this project will be translated into new design standards for the Australian construction industry to build resilient infrastructure to mitigate costs of hazard-induced damage and interruption of services to our communities. Through this project, Australia will play a leading global role in next-generation, resilience-based design of infrastructure facilities for a changing climate.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Light-emitting devices for next-generation optoelectronic applications. High-efficiency, multifunction light sources are essential in the new era of intelligent connectivity and hyper-automation for emerging applications in advanced display technologies (e.g., holographic/augmented reality displays), communication devices (e.g., 6th-generation (6G) telecommunication networks), and optical sensing (e.g., for self-driving vehicles & robotics). Realising such devices requires a paradigm shift in optical technology beyond conventional optics. This project aims to develop new light-emitting device concepts that can deliver the technical requirements of these applications by tailoring advanced nanophotonic technologies and recent breakthroughs in advanced functional materials. Field of research: 4018 - Nanotechnology Optoelectronic technologies use optical and electronic mechanisms to generate, manipulate, and convert light. They are becoming increasingly prevalent across computing, consumer electronics, and communications domains due to their low cost, efficiency, and advanced performance. Further innovations are urgently required to ensure the light-emitting technology underpinning optoelectronics applications can keep pace. It is expected that this project’s new high-performance, miniaturised, functional light sources will be capable of meeting the demanding technical requirements of future optoelectronic applications, such as tomorrow’s quantum optical telecommunication networks, ultra-small virtual and augmented reality displays, and advanced optical sensing systems that guide self-driving vehicles and robots. Commercialisation and adoption of the technology would enhance the competitiveness of Australian automotive, display, and telecommunication industries within the global photonics market predicted to reach $1627B by 2027, and cement Australia’s position as a global leader in these technologies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Integrated active microcantilevers for high-throughput nanometrology. This project aims to develop a new versatile, high-performance microsensor platform and microscopy method for measuring nano-scale structures. The proposed microscopy tool is expected to significantly increase imaging speed and miniaturize system footprint, thereby enabling high-throughput quality control of semiconductor devices. The expected outcome is a highly-scalable and low-cost imaging system that will close the technology gap between fabrication and inspection at the nanoscale. The benefits to Australia should include the potential for commercialization to develop this next-generation microscopy tool in high-value market sectors. Field of research: 4017 - Mechanical Engineering The atomic force microscope is one of the most powerful tools for imaging surfaces down to the atomic level and has remained the key enabling technology for breakthroughs in surface physics, materials science, and nanotechnology. However, a single high-resolution image can take hours which is an economic burden and an enormous barrier for scientific advancement. This project aims to solve the long-standing obstacle of low imaging speeds and slow throughput by developing a new highly scalable microsensor imaging system. This will enable quality control of next-generation semiconductor devices resulting in lower manufacturing costs and increases in reliability of everyday consumer electronics such as smartphones and computers. With approximately half of the global $550 billion semiconductor chip market located in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia is in an ideal position to take the lead on this next-generation technology. In collaboration with already established industry partners, this project has significant potential for commercialisation of this powerful new imaging tool.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Multi-Beam and Beam-Scanning Antenna Arrays for Intelligent Wireless System. This project aims to develop and validate the fundamental theory and pioneering multi-beam and beam-scanning transmissive and reflective antenna arrays for intelligent wireless systems. Advanced engineering methodologies will be developed to address the related technical challenges. The expected outcomes are multi-beam antenna supporting frequency-polarization multiplexed communication and two-dimensional dual-beam scanning systems with continuous scan capability over a wide angular range. The developed low-cost and fully passive antennas will significantly improve the information capacity of the wireless network, providing reliable and highly secure wireless communication. Field of research: 4006 - Communications Engineering Australia is increasingly reliant on modern, high-speed wireless telecommunication systems for efficient functioning of the economy, government, defence as well as police, emergency and health services. However, current telecommunication components do not meet the expectations of future communication needs for emerging applications, especially in terms of power consumption, cybersecurity and the prevention of eavesdropping. This project aims to develop intelligent antenna systems which are low-cost, suitable for next-generation (6G) wireless networks and are inherently designed to minimise eavesdropping opportunities. It will deliver a working prototype system that would allow the fast-growing, Australian telecommunications start-up sector to adopt and commercialise this technology as a key enabler for future 6G networks. This would allow Australia to build local capability in a global growth area and create high-skilled jobs in a global export market. Simultaneously, superior communication equipment designed for cybersecurity will have flow-on benefits for the Australian society, economy and government.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Mitigating the Influence of Social Bots in Heterogeneous Social Networks. This project aims to mitigate the influence of social bots in dynamic and constantly changing social networks. Social bots can spread misinformation, manipulate public opinion, and compromise privacy and security. This project will use advanced algorithms to detect and neutralize the impact of social bots, improving the integrity and accuracy of information on social media. The expected outcomes include the development of a robust system for identifying and mitigating social bot influence, and the reduction of harmful content and misinformation on social media. The benefits of this project include a more trustworthy and secure social media environment, protection of individuals and organizations from malicious activities. Field of research: 4605 - Data Management and Data Science Social bots are automated accounts that can manipulate public opinion, spread misinformation, and undermine the integrity of social media. In today's interconnected world, the impact of social bots can have far-reaching consequences, including affecting the outcome of elections, spreading false information during times of crisis, and damaging the reputation of individuals and organizations. Furthermore, the rise of social bots also has implications for privacy, security, and cybersecurity. Social bots can be used for malicious purposes such as spreading spam, phishing, and malware, and can compromise personal and sensitive information. In dynamic and constantly changing social networks, the challenge of detecting and mitigating the influence of social bots becomes even greater. This highlights the need for robust solutions that address this issue and develop effective strategies for mitigating the influence of social bots in social networks. This will ensure the integrity of social media, protect the public from misinformation and harmful content, and secure the privacy and security of individuals and organizations. To this end, the outcomes of this research, will significantly enhance bot detection, and be widely disseminated in publicly available forums, including workshops and tutorials.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

High-energy lithium-air batteries, a breathable future for renewable energy. Lithium-air (Li-air) batteries have the highest energy density which is ten folds over commercial lithium-ion batteries. However, the development of Li-air batteries has been impeded by challenges including low capacity, poor energy efficiency and limited cycle life. This project aims to develop a high-energy Li-air battery prototype with long cycle life by designing functional quasi-solid gel polymer electrolytes with multi-layer structures via molecular tuning, which could potentially power next-generation electric vehicles. This project is expected to facilitate the commercialisation of high-performance Li-air batteries and promote the development of energy storage devices that are reliable, benefiting both the economy and environment. Field of research: 4016 - Materials Engineering Lithium-ion batteries are currently the most viable energy supply for electric vehicles. However, current lithium-ion batteries are struggling to break the 500-mile barrier, due to the limitation of the theoretical energy density. Thus, a new high-energy battery system that is safe and reliable is required to propel the electric vehicle industry, which is projected to realise the 50% electrification target for new cars by 2030. By designing gel polymer electrolytes through molecular tuning, this project will advance the fabrication of ‘breathable’ lithium-air (Li-air) batteries that use air as feedstock to produce an energy density of more than 10 times that of current lithium-ion batteries. The outcomes of this project will mark a breakthrough in materials design and system optimisation, as well as prototype fabrication in high-energy batteries. This project will facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations across environmental and material sciences to advance the Li-air battery research field, while also providing industries with cheaper, cleaner and more reliable energy from direct air conversion.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Protecting oyster aquaculture from heatwaves and flooding rains . This project aims to grow our understanding of disease in oysters following extreme weather events such as heatwaves and floods. Working with industry partners, I will use field and lab-based experiments to determine the underlying causes of oyster mortality following extreme weather. Critically, this project will trial real solutions to reduce disease including selective breeding and co-culture of seaweeds. Expected outcomes include new knowledge on the causes of bacterial disease in aquaculture and real progress towards solutions to mitigate oyster disease following extreme weather events. This project expects to enable the iconic Australian oyster aquaculture industry to grow despite the extreme weather brought by climate change. Field of research: 3103 - Ecology Australia’s oyster industry, worth more than $300 million annually, is under threat from extreme weather. In recent years, severe outbreaks of disease in oysters have been triggered by extreme weather events like heatwaves and floods. This project will work closely with industry partners to better understand oyster diseases and how they can be mitigated, and will test novel solutions to mitigate the effects of extreme weather on oysters. It will provide oyster farmers with practices they can implement to reduce the risks of oyster disease and new solutions to mitigate extreme weather events, and these solutions also have potential to generate a secondary source of income. The knowledge generated from this project will be transferable to the rest of Australia’s $3.1 billion seafood industry and safeguard the resilience of Australia’s food production systems to extreme climate events.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Optical Metasurface for Single Small Extracellular Vesicle Analysis. This project aims to develop an innovative nanobiotechnology to study small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) – small biological particles that are important in intercellular communication. The technology will enable unprecedented depth of analysis and single particle resolution. It will generate new knowledge in both engineering and biological sciences by improving sEV image resolution and collecting information regarding the distribution of different sEV subpopulations based on their protein phenotypes. Expected outcomes include a universal and ultrasensitive platform with many applications in analytical biochemistry such as disease diagnostics, environmental sciences, food safety and agriculture. Field of research: 3106 - Industrial Biotechnology The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of ultrasensitive analytical tools to detect small biological particles, such as virus particles. This project tackles this important issue by developing a new nanotechnology with single-particle resolution, that takes advantage of the ability of engineered nanostructures to manipulate light. The multidisciplinary project will enable the collection of unprecedented depth of molecular information on small biological particles that cannot be achieved with traditional methods. It will increase Australia’s global competitiveness as a leading nanobiotechnology innovation hub. Expected outcomes include a universal and ultrasensitive technological platform with diverse applications in analytical biochemistry such as disease diagnostics, environmental sciences, food safety and agriculture with enormous social benefit.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Reimagining AI answer systems for critical AI literacy in Australia . Australians use AI answer systems embedded in virtual assistants, smart speakers and chatbots that offer "fast facts" in many quotidien contexts. But Siri, Alexa and ChatGPT provide information that is often biased, sometimes inaccurate, and almost always stripped of its human origins. Citizens display misplaced trust in systems which seem to rise above human biases to offer an apparently omniscient, neutral perspective. This project aims to "reclaim the human" in AI answer systems by mapping how knowledges are coproduced by people at multiple levels of the AI model lifecycle, collaboratively reimagining how AI answer systems might be designed differently, and using the redesigned products to catalyse critical AI literacy. Field of research: 4701 - Communication and Media Studies Asking a general question about the world is one of the most popular use cases for the more than a quarter of Australians who own a smart speaker and the many more who access a voice assistant via their mobile phone. This project will investigate how local users, intermediaries and data producers encounter and build such "AI answer systems" through their individual feedback, commercial application development and public volunteerism. It will map the local, human-built infrastructures on which AI answer systems depend and apply this knowledge to the development of smart speaker prototypes that will be displayed in a national exhibition and made available to libraries throughout the country to catalyse critical AI literacy. This project advances knowledge about how Australians are encountering and participating in the coproduction of knowledge in everyday AI systems and provides the Australian public with access to high-quality opportunities to improve their critical AI literacy.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Topology optimisation of damage-tolerant cellular structures with disorder. This project aims to develop a new approach to designing new lightweight, damage-tolerant, and crashworthy cellular structures by taking advantage of the latest technologies in computational mechanics and topology optimisation. The project intends to develop a new multiscale topology optimisation framework to seek new disordered cellular structures, in the context of highly nonlinear mechanics considering plasticity and fracture. The expected outcome of this project is a new methodology for generating eco-friendly structures with exceptional mechanical properties in crashing applications. This should potentially provide significant benefits to transport industries by providing safe and energy-saving vehicles. Field of research: 4017 - Mechanical Engineering Occupant safety and energy use reduction are undeniably two of the most critical aspects of vehicle design. Our research will provide direct benefits to Australian transportation and aerospace industries through our new approach to designing lightweight, damage-tolerant, and crashworthy cellular structures. The outcomes of this project have many potential applications, but most notably in vehicles and for the aerospace industry. While road safety has significantly improved over the last 40 years, road crashes remain a huge financial burden to Australians (at over $30 billion per year), alongside the extensive social impacts. This project takes advantage of the latest technologies to address and improve vehicle crashworthiness, contributing to Vision Zero (zero traffic deaths and severe injuries) . Our research also focuses on optimising the weight of the cellular structures, as each 10% change in weight reduction leads to approximately 6-8% fuel saving in the automotive industry. This is vital research with significant environmental impact and any opportunity to save on fuel reduces our use of finite resources and ultimately supports our mission to meet Net Zero targets.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2024 · 2024-01

Eco-friendly ultra-high performance concrete in protective structures. Modern buildings and infrastructure are facing challenges from natural and man-made disasters, and structural safety is jeopardized by hazardous blasts and fire scenarios. This project aims to understand concrete material and structural behavior under the combined blast and fire loads and develop structural protective measures. Expected outcomes include an in-depth understanding of structural dynamic response and failure mechanisms under coupled blast and temperature effects and a protective measure based on ultra-high-performance concrete with multi-hazard resistance and low embodied carbon. Successful delivery of this project will benefit the construction sector in Australia and the international community. Field of research: 4005 - Civil Engineering Conventional concrete is one of the world’s most widely used construction materials. It is widely acknowledged that the abnormal loads created by explosions and fire can be catastrophic to concrete structures. However, there is a lack of understanding of structural response of concrete to the combined effects of blasts and fire when they commonly take place at the same time. This project aims to develop a solution based on eco-friendly ultra-high-performance concrete. In addition to superior mechanical strength and material durability, this novel construction material is further optimised with the aid of industrial by-products to enhance its fire resistance. The outcomes will help safeguard critical buildings and infrastructures, and the consumption of industrial by-products in the process will greatly reduce carbon emissions.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Wireless Integrated Circuits for the Era of 6G: System-in-a-Package. The aim of this project is to build a hardware foundation for future wireless integrated circuits, using a combination of silicon and compound semiconductor technologies. The project will generate knowledge for circuit design and system integration to pivot towards the engineering of emerging 6G technology. Expected outcomes include a transceiver-in-package using multiple semiconductor technologies and the development of sovereign design capabilities. The results will constitute an important step towards implementing 6G. Benefits for Australia include the development of early career workers, generation of intellectual property, and securing social and economic benefits for Australians through application of this next-generation technology. Field of research: 4009 - Electronics, Sensors and Digital Hardware Future wireless technologies relying on high-speed mobile networks are expected to become ubiquitous over the coming decade and will be worth trillions of Dollars globally. However, some foundation technologies, such as electronic integrated circuits, are currently still in their infancy and too costly for mass production. This project will produce innovative, low-cost electronic integrated circuits crucial for emerging applications, such as wireless links that will be up to 50 times faster than today. These high-speed wireless devices will not only benefit metropolitan areas, but especially end-users across Australia’s vast regional areas, advancing real-time applications in telehealth, remote education, smart farming, etc. Research workforce training in this high-demand area will contribute to addressing domestic skill shortages in the ICT sector, and adoption by the growing number of technology start-ups in electronic circuit design would also allow Australian business to offer competitively-priced and high-performing commercial products to global markets, resulting in job creation and new export income.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Stabilising soil foundation with biopolymer for enhanced rail transport. This project aims to develop a novel cost-effective and eco-friendly method to stabilise soil foundation for faster and heavier rail transport. The scientific knowledge of cyclic behaviour capturing localised and microscale evolutions of railway foundation will be advanced significantly via innovative physical modelling using iconic facilities with state-of-the-art sensors, and sophisticated numerical modelling. The project will yield a natural biopolymer-based solution for mud pumping railways, i.e., a critical issue causing substantial annual maintenance cost and poor transport efficiency in Australia and worldwide. The outcomes will greatly benefit transport infrastructure, mining, agriculture, environment and climate change remediation. Field of research: 4005 - Civil Engineering Unstable track foundations are a significant issue for rail transport worldwide, especially in Australia where heavy trains often run through coastal regions affected by persistent rain. Millions of Dollars are spent annually on railway maintenance, yet track fouling and instability frequently cause transport disruptions and delays across the country. This project will significantly improve our understanding of the mechanisms causing track degradation. It will also develop a novel eco-friendly solution to stabilise affected foundations using natural materials made from agricultural byproducts instead of the fossil-based materials currently in use, such as plastics and cement. Adoption of this solution by the railway industry will lead to novel design and maintenance methods, improved transport efficiency and extended track longevity, along with significant savings on maintenance costs. Expected outcomes will not only bring considerable socio-economic benefits to Australia, especially to the mining and agriculture industries through enhanced rail transport, but will also contribute to greener technologies.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Food for thought: identifying dietary influences on decision making. Cues that signal food are abundant in the surrounding environment, yet their ability to stimulate food consumption remains poorly understood. This project seeks to identify how food cues influence decision-making processes in the presence of food cues. It will also test how dietary habits alter responding to food cues, and explore the underlying neural mechanisms of these effects. Sophisticated behavioural neuroscience techniques will be employed in a validated rodent model of the modern diet. Expected outcomes include new interdisciplinary knowledge identifying how nutritional choices influence cognition and the brain. The project should inform how the modern environment shapes dietary habits. Field of research: 5202 - Biological Psychology The composition of the Australian diet has changed dramatically, with consumption of high-fat, high-sugar foods now routine in all demographic groups. Choosing to eat such foods can be prompted by cues in the surrounding environment, such as passing a fast-food sign or entering a food court. There is an urgent need to understand precisely how these cues alter decision making processes related to food seeking and consumption, and whether sensitivity to food cues is altered by dietary habits. This project will address this knowledge gap using experiments which model real-world scenarios of food cue exposure, enabling us to identify the brain regions involved in cue-driven overeating. Outcomes will enhance understanding of modern eating habits by identifying how the surrounding environment influences food choices. The knowledge gained may inform advertising and health care policy approaches that seek to address maladaptive eating habits and the associated economic and health burden.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Co-creating Cultures of Inclusion: Redefining Access to Cultural Heritage . This project aims to respond to an identified injustice, as access to cultural heritage is still very limited for people with disability. Cultural tourism has one of the largest draws globally, but most cultural institutions are still not understanding equitable access to encourage inclusive cultural tourism and widen participation. As a world-first study this project will create an innovative co-design model of practice, through an ecological framework and inclusive multi-sensorial explorations that can be translated and adopted by national, state, university, and regional museums and galleries across Australia and globally. This timely project will benefit all Australians by co-designing greater access to our cultural heritage for all. Field of research: 4302 - Heritage, Archive and Museum Studies This project will improve access to museums and galleries for people with disabilities. The research will build an evidence base through surveys, interviews, workshops and digital storytelling to better understand the physical and social barriers that people with disabilities face in accessing their cultural heritage, and how they come to know cultural objects using various senses (e.g., haptics and touch). The project website will give open access to an Inclusive Toolkit, a guide for cultural tourism operators, and 20 Digital Stories in which people with disabilities share their experience of galleries and museums. National access guidelines will be created for disability organisations, the cultural tourism sector, and more than 1,000 museums and galleries across Australia. An inclusive screening of the digital stories will involve people with disability and stakeholders from government, tourism and the cultural sector in discussion of policy, practice and advocacy. Benefits include more inclusive cultural tourism, higher visitor numbers, and a strengthening of Australian cultural and civic identity.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Emergence: Examining gender equity in music via a new contemporary opera. This DECRA will investigate one of Australia’s significant art-forms: opera. Led by an established Australian composer, it aims to develop new technologies and methods for composition and collaboration. The expected outcomes include new analysis of contemporary, international operatic practice and an original Australian opera that focuses on gender equity in music as its subject, translating data on this topic into creative-practice. The DECRA's significance is to create new, more inclusive frameworks for opera that centre women and gender-diverse music creators and can extend to other musical genres. Benefits include the investigation of urgent issues arising now in Australian workplaces and amplification of the voices of the marginalised. Field of research: 3603 - Music This project will advance creative practice by investigating the under-representation of female/gender-diverse composers, challenging prevailing operatic narratives that present gendered stereotypes, and deploying new technologies creatively. The key outcome will be an original, Australian opera that integrates digital technology to include diverse participants in the compositional process. Accessible tools (smart-phones, sensors, pulse-rate monitors) will be adapted for performers and spectators to contribute text/music to the work in real-time. The project will drive social and cultural change by prioritising inclusion and applying affordable technologies to reimagine opera. Renewing the ways opera is created and delivered is a key recommendation of a recent national opera review. Benefits extend to other artforms and to Australian arts organisations seeking sustainability through increased audience diversity and engagement, equitable practices, and cost-effective design. Strong community and music industry links will result in outcomes that benefit a diverse society, in Australia and internationally.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Structured Federated Learning for Personalised Intelligence on Devices. The project aims to develop a new structured federated machine-learning framework to enhance the customisation of artificial intelligence across mobile and smart devices. It seeks to enable users to receive customised services on their devices without sending their sensitive personal data to a cloud service provider. Anticipated benefits include greater privacy, data security and device performance, as well as better end-user experience. Expected outcomes of this research include new knowledge, toolkits and algorithms for use in developing machine-learning based secure, efficient and fault-tolerant technologies for software applications, mobile services, cloud computing, autonomous vehicles and advanced manufacturing processes. Field of research: 4611 - Machine Learning According to the Consumer Policy Research Centre (Dec 2020), 94% of Australian consumers are uncomfortable with how their personal information is collected and shared online. This project will provide solutions which stop the need for sharing our private data to cloud service providers, while still enabling us to receive the same quality of personalised service. In a new marketplace of artificial intelligence (AI) -empowered service, each end-user can have a customised intelligent model on personal smart devices. The expected outcome of this project, a new collaborative machine learning framework, can simultaneously assist millions of clients, e.g., smartphone users, to generate personalised intelligent models without sharing users’ private data. As well as securing Australia’s future share in these AI-service markets and protecting Australians to be less vulnerable to the negative consequences of privacy leakage, the personalised intelligence approach generated by this project will help deliver improved quality-of-service, model performance on devices and user experience.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Anisotropic single-particle transducers. The project aims to tackle a major challenge in techniques that manipulate tiny particles – increasing the performance of transducer devices that convert magnetic forces to mechanical movement. It will centre on interactions on the surface of particular particles, bypassing a known scientific limit. Expected outcomes include a fundamental understanding of key factors that have recently been shown to enhance magnetic responsivity and efficient mechanical manipulation and sensing in a magnetic field. The project outcomes will benefit developers by, for example, advanced nanoscale devices for robotics, sensing and molecular bioassays; controlling biophysical processes; and fundamental mechanobiology research. Field of research: 4018 - Nanotechnology When studying diseases at the molecular level, biomedical researchers rely on special materials that respond to mechanical pressure, but existing materials are not suitable to concurrently screen large numbers of diseased cells. The project will address this gap by creating new nanotechnology materials for the efficient conversion of magnetism into mechanical action, which will create new techniques to understand how mechanical pressure contributes to diseases that will lead to effective therapeutic strategies. It will not only enable Australian biotechnology companies and instrumentation manufacturers to develop robotic technology at microscopic scale, but will eventually lead to life-saving medical procedures. The project outcomes will support interdisciplinary collaboration between cell biologists and roboticists, allowing research translation into high-tech start-ups and the creation of an advanced manufacturing industry: biomedical robotic devices. The new nanomaterials will therefore ultimately contribute to economic and health benefits for the Australian public.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Navigating Uncertainty & Evidence: Teaching for Epistemic Cognition. We are facing an epistemological crisis, grounded in changing technologies, fake news, and a distrust of experts. Developing capability to navigate uncertainty, disagreement, and evidence is one of the most pressing social issues of our time in order to develop a sustainable society, ensure inclusive and equitable quality education, and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Despite relevant research, little is known about the crucial practices of educators in supporting learning towards these capabilities. This project will bring classroom practice and a practical theory of epistemic cognition into synchrony, developing new knowledge and strategies for students to learn how to navigate uncertainty, disagreement, and evidence. Field of research: 3904 - Specialist Studies In Education This project aims to understand how secondary school teachers equip learners to comprehend, integrate and evaluate complex information (epistemic cognition). There are domestic and international calls to lift the quality of teaching in order to positively influence student outcomes. Data suggests most high school graduates are ill-prepared to comprehend, integrate and evaluate information from complex texts. Their poor epistemic cognition can negatively impact their ability to participate in the workforce and make sustainable personal and civic decisions. With expert teachers, this project will co-design and evaluate a sophisticated toolkit of professional development resources for teachers to eventually implement in the classroom to enhance learners’ epistemic cognition. The new methodologies developed will better align classroom practice with established learning sciences research. By contributing to inclusive and equitable quality education and promotes lifelong learning opportunities, the project will deliver sustainable benefits to Australian schools, learners and society.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Internet Timing for the Ages: Establishing the New Timekeeping System. All computers incorporate a software clock, essential to myriad software applications. An economic way to synchronize such clocks is over a network, however the approach the Internet currently depends upon is unreliable and vulnerable. This project aims to establish a new architecture for networked timekeeping, built on future-proofed fundamentals, that will for the first time address each of accuracy, reliability, and trust. The expected outcome is a national prototype, serving the public with accurate and trusted time, that will form the basis of the next generation timekeeping system for the Internet and the Internet of Things. Expected benefits include enhanced productivity across the digital economy, and resilience to GPS failures. Field of research: 4606 - Distributed Computing and Systems Software Computers need to know the time. This is achieved by software communicating with time servers over the Internet, but the current system has limitations including low accuracy, a lack of trustworthiness and transparency, and an over-reliance on satellite systems like GPS, which are increasingly vulnerable to attack. This project will reengineer the Internet timing system, to deliver time to Australia’s computers and devices that can be trusted. The outcomes of the project include a detailed system design, associated software, and a nation-spanning prototype, open to the public, whose performance will be authoritatively benchmarked. It will be established with the cooperation of trusted peak Australian standards bodies invested in the public good, including the National Measurement Institute, which provides a pathway toward a permanent sovereign timekeeping capability, immune to GPS failures. The availability of highly accurate, reliable and trusted network time will decrease costs and enhance productivity across the digital economy, reduce download delays, and minimise timing-based cybersecurity threats.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Assessment of Dynamic Pile Driving Using Machine Learning. This project aims at developing new technology to determine ground properties and foundation capacity in real-time during pile installation by adopting rigorous numerical simulation, laboratory experiments and artificial intelligence-based computational model. Although impact driving is used commonly to install piles on site, there is no technology currently available to interpret collected data accurately and in real-time to provide live feedback and optimise construction processes. This research will provide new machine learning model to assess the ground and foundation characteristics during construction, and will increase certainty in infrastructure investment in Australia particularly for costly transport assets and infrastructure. Field of research: 4005 - Civil Engineering Building transport infrastructure such as roads and railways requires foundation works such as pile-driving when constructing on weak ground. However, there have been reports of cracked piles in infrastructure projects due to inability of current methods to predict foundation strength accurately, resulting in excessive construction and maintenance costs. Therefore, it is important to develop more reliable techniques to determine pile capacity to ensure cost effective and timely construction. This project will adopt new technologies, and physical and computer simulations to process data collected during pile installation via sensors, and establish a new design procedure and software to determine foundation strength and fine-tune the design. The outcomes will offer a new tool and foundation design guidelines to infrastructure designers, builders, and owners to assess foundation conditions more effectively, leading to a reduction in construction and maintenance costs.  Moreover, the public will experience better quality and safer transport infrastructure with less damage, and fewer closures and interruptions.

ARC National Competitive Grants · FY 2023 · 2023-01

Multi-beam Transmitarrays for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Communications. This project aims to develop fundamental technologies for multi-beam conformal transmitarrays with independent beam steering capabilities for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communications. Compared to current UAV antennas, the proposed antennas can be flush mounted to the body of UAVs, improving aerodynamic performance while also achieving significantly higher data rates for wireless connectivity. This project is expected to generate scientific breakthroughs in many aspects of antenna research and enable UAVs to leverage big data technologies by transmitting/receiving large amounts of data, thus serving as a powerful tool for emergency management and for transforming many industry sectors, such as agriculture, food and water. Field of research: 4006 - Communications Engineering The smart conformal antenna arrays developed in this project have great potential to enable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to leverage big data technologies. The UAV big data enabled by conformal arrays provide a new observation technology to monitor land, water and marine systems, delivering invaluable economic and environmental benefits. This means data can be collected in a faster, more comprehensive, and cost-effective way for precision agriculture, prediction of drought/bushfires, and to monitor changes in climate. In case of natural hazards, the conformal antenna aided UAVs can offer high-speed wireless connectivity to areas where the infrastructure on the ground has been destroyed. Therefore, they will make substantial contributions to emergency management and disaster relief by serving as aerial communication platforms. This technology will greatly benefit the Australian population, particularly those residing in rural areas and areas affected by annual bushfires and natural disasters. Improved planning and response to natural disasters could have huge economic and social benefits.